Inflation Protection After Retirement

Retired members and beneficiaries are eligible to receive an annual cost-of-living adjustment to their monthly benefit each January.

There are two levels of COLA, which are based on the period during which the pension benefit was earned. Benefits earned up to June 30, 2015 receive guaranteed cost-of-living adjustments and benefits earned after that date are eligible for conditional cost-of-living adjustments, as shown in the chart below.

Monthly Benefits

Cost-of-Living Adjustment

Benefits earned up to June 30, 2015

Guaranteed COLA: 80% of inflation*, to a maximum of 3% per year.

Benefits earned after June 30, 2015

Conditional COLA: 0 to 100% of inflation*, to a maximum of 5% per year.

*Inflation is determined as the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for Canada for the 12 months ending on the previous October 31.

The level of conditional COLA for any year depends on the financial status of the Plan, as determined by actuarial funding valuations, and approval by the STF Executive on the recommendations of the STRP Board of Directors. Conditional COLA is also subject to federal and provincial pension legislation.

On the first January following your date of retirement, your COLA will be pro-rated based on your retirement date. For example, if your retirement date was in July, you received pension payments for half of a year, so your pension will be increased by half of the cost-of-living adjustment.

2018 Cost-of-Living Adjustment

In January 2018, a guaranteed cost-of-living adjustment of 1.2 percent will be applied to the portion of your pension that was earned up to June 30, 2015. No adjustment will be made to the portion earned after June 30, 2015, as no conditional COLA has been granted for 2018.

If you started receiving your pension during the 2017 calendar year, the above increase will be pro-rated.